Traffic to a web site is typically measured in “page views”—the number of requests received for web pages of the web site. The operator of a web site generally benefits from increases in the number of page views occurring at the web site. If a larger number of page views occurs at a web merchant web site, it is then often possible to sell more products or services. For a web site supported by advertising, a larger number of page views typically provides an opportunity to present a larger quantity of advertising, yielding greater advertising revenue. When a greater number of page views occurs at a web site that exists primarily to disseminate information, such as information relating to a social cause, more information can be disseminated about the cause. Accordingly, the operators of web sites have a significant incentive to develop and implement strategies for increasing the number of page views occurring at their web sites.
One such strategy employed by web merchant sites is to, on a web page of the web site directed to a particular product category, list the newest products available in the category. While this approach sometimes succeeds in increasing page views by drawing the attention of users to products they have not yet seen, it has a number of disadvantages.
First, for a web merchant having many product categories, a user is required to traverse to a large number of product category web pages in order to find out about all of the new products. This can often be a painstaking process, and therefore one completed by few users. Even after the user has done so, however, it can be difficult for the user to remember new products in earlier-reviewed categories.
Second, on a particular product category web page, the same list of new products is generally displayed to all users. Accordingly, for a particular user, the list of new products may include products that the user has previously seen on the new product list, omit new products that the user has not yet seen on the new product list, include products in which the user is not interested, or exclude new products in which the user is interested.
Third, the strategy is effective only to promote new products, as opposed to any other aspects of the web site.
In view of the shortcomings discussed above, an approach to promoting new web site content that better maximizes the potential to increase page views at the web site would have significant utility.